Spanish laptop OEM Slimbook in collaboration with the developers of the KDE environment for Linux-based OS distributions are refreshing the KDE Slimbook lineup with a faster AMD processor. The sixth iteration of the KDE Slimbook switches from last year’s Phoenix to the newer Hawk Point platform that also brings several improvements.

Powering the KDE Slimbook VI is the 8-core / 16-thread Ryzen 7 8845HS processor that is based on the same Zen 4 core architecture and Radeon 780M iGPU as the Phoenix models, but introduces a more powerful NPU with 16 TOPS performance, increasing the total processor performance to 38 TOPS. Thanks to an improved memory controller, the latest notebooks also support up to 96 GB DDR5-5600 RAM, while the storage side can accommodate up to 8 TB capacities via two M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe slots.

A small downgrade on the display side seems a bit unexpected. The 16-inch IPS panel with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 100% sRGB color gamut and 400 nit brightness is the same from the previous version, but the refresh rate was lowered from 165 to 120 Hz.

Port selection still does not feature USB4 connectors, yet the speeds have improved on most of the existing ports. The two USB-C 3.2 ports are now rated for 10 Gbps instead of 5 Gbps, and one of the three USB-A 3.2 ports is rated for 10 Gbps as well. An HDMI video out plus an audio jack are also included, and Internet connectivity is provided through a Wi-Fi 6 BT 5.2 card. Unfortunately, the 720p webcam has not been upgraded, but the battery capacity was increased from 68 to 80 Wh, improving total autonomy by around 1 hour (up to 12 h). Surprisingly, the larger battery did not modify the 4.1 lbs (1.8 kg) total weight.

KDE Neon remains the default OS and users can install any other Linux distro. Starting prices are €100 higher than version V, as the base configuration with 16 GB RAM and 250 GB SSD can be pre-ordered for €1,099. Version VI is expected to ship in late October.